Muse of Harganeth wrote:If you posted the story on Dnet, i'm sure someone would copy paste it onto a word document, then send it via email for you, just making sure that it has your name on it!
Nope - stories cannot be revealed at all. No sharing with fellow writers (except behind the judges' backs), no revealing plothooks or even concepts. Stories can and will be disqualified if this rule is breached (bascially meaning that if you say something about what you intend to write, you'll have to find another idea or your entry will be discarded). As I said, I intend to run this the ImpLit way.
Anyway, since this thread is all about discussing...
Druchii.net Story Competition April '06
Basic rules and guidelines
The competition format will be one thousand words, with a maximum 10% extra if you really need it. Anything beyond 1100 words will simply not be read when judging the story. Harsh, I know, but the trick is fitting a story in a thousand words.
Each competition will feature a particular theme around which the story should be articulated. The theme of this first story competition will simply be "The Druchii" for ease of participation, but will change with each new competition.
The judges' pannel reserves the right to discard any story they feel inappropriate (either because it does not conform to the competition's theme, or because it was found to be plagiarised, had little to no punctuation or other such insulting things). The judges' pannel cannot be held accountable for misplacing the participants' work, mixing up names, blowing up the server, causing the end of humanity or anything else.
Stories are to be written in secret. Anyone posting their ideas/concepts/etc. will be asked to write about something different. Anyone not complying and submitting an entry the contents of which have already been (partially or more) revealed will see their entry discarded.
The deadline is set to a month of the beginning of the competition. The estimated starting time of the competition is the first of April '06. The estimated closing time of the competition is the first of May '06, though entries may be accepted beyond that date if the judges are provided with a good excuse.
Judges and voting
The board of judges will be made up of the following people: two as of yet undetermined moderators or Initiative members and two regular users. Keep in mind that judges cannot participate in this competition.
Upon reaching the deadline, the judges' pannel will convene and decide upon a shortlist of the best stories. These will then be submitted to the public in a poll so that they may inform the judges of their particular preferences. In case of a tie, the judges may decide to impose their decision.
Placing and awards
There will be three finalists, chosen by the poll. So as not to discourage any of the participants, all three finalists will receive the same award: [Note - the following is highly speculative and depends upon my coaxing the adequate people into doing this for us] a custom title until the next competition ("Druchii.net Story Competition Finalist, Xth Place") as well as having their work featured in the Druchii Herald.
In addition to this, the judges may, if they feel that the people's opinion did not properly reflect the quality of the stories presented, designate another participant to receive the "Judges' Best" award and custom rank.
There y'go. Modelled loosely on ImpLit's highly successful contests. The one thousand word limit is here to stay, since its function is to spice the whole thing up by making it somewhat harder to produce a finished piece.